What She Overheard in Her Own Marriage novel Chapter 106

As Kaia sat up, the heavy black men's coat slid off her shoulders. She glanced at it indifferently, tossing it to the side before standing to greet her mother. "Mom, let's go sit in the waiting area down the hall."

Jane glanced at the hospital bed, noting that both Finnian and Brynlee were still sound asleep.

Seeing the dark circles under Kaia's eyes from the exhausting vigil, Jane swallowed the lecture she had been ready to give and simply nodded.

On the sixth day of the holidays, Noelle wrapped up her "business" tour abroad and flew back to the States.

She had debated sending Finnian the photos she'd secretly taken of him, but ultimately decided against it.

The moment she landed, Noelle headed straight to Aethelstan Biopharma's headquarters to lead a scheduled executive meeting.

After the meeting, as she was going over some final details with a few senior managers, her office phone rang.

"Ms. Lawrence, there's a woman at the front desk who claims to be your mother. She's asking to see you."

Noelle's fingers tightened around her pen, her hand freezing in mid-air.

Mother?

Nineteen years ago, a car crash had killed her father instantly, and her mother had simply vanished. As far as Noelle was concerned, she was an orphan.

But now, a woman was standing in her lobby claiming that title.

"Ms. Lawrence?" the receptionist asked hesitantly. "Should I send them up?"

Noelle's mind raced, reeling from the shock. She took a deep breath. "Put them in Conference Room 3."

Inside the conference room, Noelle pushed the door open.

The woman sitting on the sofa felt entirely foreign, yet undeniably familiar. The striking, cat-like shape of her eyes was a dead ringer for Noelle’s own.

Beside the middle-aged woman sat an eighteen-year-old girl who shared a striking resemblance to Noelle. The teenager was dressed in an obnoxiously loud designer outfit, brown hair flowing over her shoulders, headphones on, scrolling through her phone. She barely glanced up when Noelle walked in.

"Noelle..." The older woman stood up, her voice trembling, and reached out as if to grab Noelle's hands.

"Don't touch me," Noelle ordered, taking three steps back. "Sit down. Whatever you have to say, say it from there."

"Cut the act. Why are you really here? You want money, or do you want connections?" Noelle glanced toward the door. Sensing the tension, her assistant quickly slipped in, placed a cup of tea on the table, and vanished.

Pearl was stunned. When she discovered her long-lost daughter was the General Manager of a multi-billion dollar medical company under the Sanders Conglomerate, she thought it was a coincidence. Only after seeing Noelle's face by chance before the holidays did she believe it.

"Noelle, I..." Pearl stammered, unsure of how to navigate her daughter's hostility.

Chloe had no such filter. "Here's the deal. Mom and my dad run a company, but we pissed off some major investors and now we're getting blacklisted. We need you to use your Sanders family pull to fix it. You wouldn't just leave us out to dry, right?"

Noelle's eyes snapped to Chloe, her gaze lethal. "Who says I wouldn't? We don't have a relationship. Leaving you out to dry sounds perfectly reasonable to me."

"Noelle!" Pearl gasped, horrified by her daughter's coldness. The tears flowed freely now. "I'm so sorry! I didn't know what was happening when Chloe's father saved me all those years ago. Please, can you just help us? We aren't as rich as the Sanders family, but our company has millions in assets. Whatever your conditions are, we can negotiate!"

Noelle scoffed. "I don't care what kind of trouble you're in. It has nothing to do with me. Get out before I call security."

Chloe sneered, crossing her arms. "Mom, what did I tell you? She can barely keep her own head above water in the Sanders family. Her husband died, so she's just a widow. She didn't even pop out a kid to secure her spot. We completely wasted a trip. She can't even save herself!"

With a dramatic huff, Chloe grabbed her designer bag, ready to storm out.